Israel's coalition government enjoying a wafer thin 61-59 majority in a 120-member Parliament on Monday decided to hold early polls in April, seven months before they are due, amidst disagreement among lawmakers over a court-ordered legislation and deliberations over possible indictment of Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu on graft charges.
The two possible election dates in April are 2nd and 9th, the Hebrew media reported.
"Out of budgetary and national responsibility, the heads of the coalition parties unanimously agreed to dissolve the Knesset and go to a new election at the beginning of April after a term of four full years," a statement released at the end of a meeting of the coalition party heads said.
There are also widespread speculations that Netanyahu may be indicted in a series of graft charges, which many analysts said was a possible reason for the early polls.
Despite ongoing disagreements over the ultra-Orthodox draft bill, which was the initial impetus for their meeting Monday, the coalition heads stressed that none of the parties will leave the government and that "the partnership in the Knesset and in the government will continue during the elections".
Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid's announcement that it would vote against the Defence Ministry's bill to enlist Haredim (ultra-orthodox Jews) into the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and a small faction within the coalition also opposing the bill in its current form triggered the decision for fresh elections, the possibility of which has been widely spoken about recently irrespective of the current crisis.
The Netanyahu's government would need the support of 61 lawmakers to pass the controversial Haredi enlistment bill, which the Supreme Court directed to pass by January 15.
If the bill is not passed by then, Netanyahu as Defence Minister could be seen as breaking the law if he does not immediately enlist the Haredim en masse.
Three lawmakers of the Agudat Yisrael party, which is part of the coalition government, said they would not vote for the bill if certain key changes are not made into it.
Given that the bill could not be passed only with the support of the coalition parties, coalition Chairman David Amsalem tried to garner the support of opposition parties like Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beteinu who had voted for it in its first reading.
General elections in Israel were slated for November 2019.
With Monday's development, the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) members will have to vote to dissolve the House early.
The decision to go to the polls comes just a month after Yisrael Beteinu's ultra-nationalist leader Avigdor Liberman resigned as defence minister and pulled his party out of the coalition, leaving it with a razor thin majority of just 61 to 59 in a 120 member parliament.
The decision also comes as Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is set to begin reviewing materials to decide on possible graft charges against Netanyahu this week.
State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan said on Wednesday that he was wrapping up recommendations on three cases against Netanyahu for Mandelblit, which reportedly include recommendations that the premier be indicted on bribery charges over an affair in which he is accused of kicking back regulatory favours in exchange for positive media coverage.
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